Suing Backfires. BitTorrent Traffic Up 24%

You know those high-profile lawsuits the MPAA are bringing against the Pirate Bay and other BitTorrent sites? Well…they’re kinda helping boost BitTorrent Traffic, according to Ars Technica. All the publicity surrounding the suits may be attracting new users who had previously not known where to get BitTorrent files.

Online measurement firm Big Champagne said that average BitTorrent traffic rose to 8.2 million downloaders during the two months between mid-January and mid-March from 6.6 million downloaders in the month before Christmas. And the jump isn’t just an anomaly. Big Champagne told Ars Technica: “The baseline has been elevated.”

Whether all of that added BitTorrent traffic is a result of newfound fame from lawsuits is uncertain. But one thing is for sure: The MPAA isn’t about to back down. In fact, it’s ramping up and expanding its efforts.

Yesterday, the organization sued Pullmylink.com, a site that provides links to — but does not host — free and allegedly pirated movies and TV shows. This is the seventh such action against link aggregators since late last year.